Later, when Emperor Liang disregarded the people’s lives… forcibly seizing medicinal materials from the people’s hands, ignoring the soldiers’ bloodshed and sacrifice, insisting on fighting Jin to the death over personal vendettas, it was also Princess Zhenguo who saved the dying people, camping outside the city for months without attacking… patiently persuading surrender.

The entire medical camp was like boiling water meeting hot oil, instantly erupting. The soldiers all knelt on the ground…

The words “sworn to follow Princess Zhenguo to the death” echoed endlessly.

Xiao Rongyan felt surging emotions in his heart that were difficult to suppress. He slowly stood up, gazing at Bai Qingyan, whose expression was solemn and eyes profound, feeling that Bai Qingyan possessed an ability to bewitch people’s hearts—this was an extremely rare talent for a general.

He guessed… the reason Duke Zhenguo Bai Weiting called Bai Qingyan a natural-born commander was precisely because Bai Qingyan possessed such talent.

But in Xiao Rongyan’s view, Bai Qingyan was not merely a natural-born commander. Her breadth of mind and insight… if she truly became emperor in the future, she would also be a good ruler.

Moreover, in Bai Qingyan’s speech, she hadn’t mentioned Jin or the Jin Emperor even once. Her intention to replace Jin was already quite obvious.

Yue Shi, whose heart was stirred by Bai Qingyan’s words, couldn’t help but join the camp full of soldiers in shouting, “sworn to follow Princess Zhenguo to the death.” He secretly glanced at his smiling master, feeling vaguely worried for his master.

Originally, Yue Shi had thought that once Miss Bai married his master, she would become a fierce general for their Yan. But seeing Miss Bai’s stance, it seemed she wouldn’t enter Yan. What could be done about this?

Yue Shi felt his master was somewhat heartless. Even he could see that Miss Bai might not be so easy to bring into Yan in the future, yet his master could still smile.

That day, before noon, Bai Qingyan’s words had spread throughout the entire military camp.

Over a hundred thousand soldiers abandoned their previous prejudices about different nationalities and accepted Bai Qingyan’s doctrine that all under heaven are one family. Only now did they truly regard each other as family.

The soldiers who had previously surrendered to Jin cast aside any guilt about attacking their mother Kingdom, willing to fight for the unification of the realm! To fight for all people under heaven!

The atmosphere in the Jin military camp was unprecedentedly good.

The exhausted Bai Qingyan woke from her sleep—it was already the hour of Shen.

Through the lowered bed curtains, Bai Qingyan saw Xiao Rongyan sitting at the table reading bamboo scrolls by flickering candlelight. She raised her hand to massage her aching temples.

Hearing the sound of Bai Qingyan throwing off the covers and rising, Xiao Rongyan put down the bamboo scroll in his hand: “You’re awake…”

“Mm!” Bai Qingyan had slept very soundly. She rubbed her neck and asked, “What time is it?”

“Three quarters past the hour of Shen.” Xiao Rongyan methodically poured a cup of hot tea and walked toward the bed carrying it.

He lifted the bed curtain and hung it on the gilded bronze hook with vine patterns, sat down beside the bed, and handed the tea to Bai Qingyan: “Drink some hot water first.”

After drinking two sips, she looked at Xiao Rongyan and asked, “Didn’t you go to receive the Western Huai Prince of Wei?”

“I sent Yue Shi to go…” Xiao Rongyan took the teacup from Bai Qingyan’s hand and placed it on the small stool nearby, quietly gazing at her. “You collapsed as soon as you returned. I was worried.”

Although Physician Hong had already come to examine her and said Bai Qingyan had simply fallen asleep from exhaustion, Xiao Rongyan still hadn’t left, staying here to watch over Bai Qingyan.

“A’Bao…” Xiao Rongyan grasped Bai Qingyan’s hand and asked, “Do you have the heart to become emperor?”

Bai Qingyan didn’t avoid Xiao Rongyan’s gaze: “Do you think it’s inappropriate?”

“It’s not that I think it’s inappropriate. If A’Bao has the heart to become emperor, just reading the Book of Lord Shang isn’t enough. The Book of Lord Shang discusses the art of controlling the people, but its methods are too harsh. When Qin initially honored it… That’s why it was called tyrannical rule! My mother once wrote a set of books. According to my mother, those books weren’t authored by her, but I’ve read the content. They’re more applicable than the books authored by Lord Shang. The entire work can be summarized in four words… Confucian exterior, Legalist interior! It’s a rare book that Yan keeps secret and doesn’t share externally.”

Xiao Rongyan didn’t keep anything to himself. He told Bai Qingyan, “If A’Bao is interested, after I return to Yan in the future, I’ll have someone transcribe this book and send a copy to A’Bao.”

She had always known that Xiao Rongyan never looked down on her, but she hadn’t expected that Xiao Rongyan could discuss and exchange ideas with her, who might stand in opposition to him in the future.

“Aren’t you afraid that after I read Yan’s rare book, I might become Yan’s enemy someday?” she asked with a smile.

Xiao Rongyan gripped Bai Qingyan’s hand, stroking the back of her hand: “I regard A’Bao as the treasure of my heart, as a friend, as a confidant, and also as a worthy opponent I can compete with. A’Bao placed her military writings on the desk for me to read freely… how could I keep secrets from A’Bao?”

What Bai Qingyan read wasn’t only Lord Shang’s “Shang Jun Shu.” Among the writings left by ancient sages, all contained learning. Bai Qingyan simply didn’t want to miss anything, so she read them all in detail.

She also didn’t believe that relying solely on any one school’s doctrine could govern a Kingdom and make it prosperous.

Among the hundred schools of thought, only Confucianism advocated righteousness, which is why… Confucianism was highly revered among all schools.

While Legalism and Mohism were both too utilitarian, only seeking immediate development without considering the long term. But to truly achieve long-term stability for a Kingdom requires balancing profit and righteousness.

Speaking of balance, one couldn’t help but mention Taoism. Many fragmentary chapters and unique copies left by ancient Taoism weren’t entirely about the non-action governance that modern scholars believed…

The Bai family possessed the four rare copies of Taoist texts that were difficult for the world to see: “Jing Fa,” “Sixteen Classics,” “Cheng,” and “Dao Yuan.”

Among them, “Jing Fa” discussed that governing a Kingdom must rely on legal systems, while “Sixteen Classics” described political and military strategies. “Cheng” spoke of the weighing and measuring needed for governing and implementing laws, and “Dao Yuan” discussed cosmology.

Bai Qingyan believed that among these four books, the first three were more practical, making abstract governance concepts concrete. Though they couldn’t be fully applied according to this era, their essence could be extracted for personal use.

She had read all these books before but had never studied them carefully. Now she was re-examining these books in detail, intending to take the essence from various schools, discard the dross, and combine the strengths of all schools of thought to create a way of governance that would benefit both Kingdom and people when the realm was unified in the future, balancing imperial power and people’s interests for the long term. This was an extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive task. She only felt that days were short while her aspirations were long.

Shen Qingzhu entered the room and bowed deeply toward the inner chamber: “Miss, Master Xiao, Yue Shi has returned. He says the distinguished guest staying at the inn heard that Miss and Master Xiao are an engaged couple and wishes to meet Miss.”

Xiao Rongyan stood up and straightened his clothes. Knowing why the Western Huai Prince wanted to see Bai Qingyan, he said to Bai Qingyan, “It’s probably about Wei’s affairs. If you don’t want to see him, I’ll go speak with him.”

“Are you planning to take this distinguished guest along with the Jin army, or leave first to settle this distinguished guest?” Bai Qingyan got up and sat on the bedside, putting on her soft-soled shoes.